Chapter 1 Suspension
Aunt Wang's full name is Wang Amei. She was born before the founding of the People's Republic of China and is 46 years old this year. Like most cooks, she is big and strong, but she is a nice person. In the afternoon, after hearing He Xiaoli talk about Lin Qingqing's situation, she felt quite sympathetic towards her. When she heard that Lin Qingqing wanted to find some work, she readily agreed, "If she doesn't mind, she can help me wash vegetables and do some odd jobs in the kitchen. After this matter is settled, I will teach her a few dishes so that she can have a skill to rely on."
Aunt Wang spoke casually, but He Xiaoli's eyes lit up, and she said, "Don't worry, Auntie, she's very hardworking and will definitely do a good job!"
It is said that teaching an apprentice can lead to the master's starvation, so no matter what trade you are in, skilled people don't easily take on apprentices. Aunt Wang's agreement to teach Lin Qingqing how to cook was a pleasant surprise.
He Xiaoli returned to the front and told Lin Qingqing about it, which also cheered Lin Qingqing up.
Actually, she could cook too, although she learned a variety of skills without any particular focus, but her culinary skills were still pretty good. But since she transmigrated into Lin Qingqing's body, she had nowhere to use her talents, otherwise it would arouse suspicion and cause trouble. If she could learn to cook from Aunt Wang, it would be different. No matter how much Aunt Wang taught her, she would have a reason to explain later, and who knows, she might even be able to find a job based on this experience.
Lin Qingqing hoped to find a job, because if she didn't have a job, given her original situation—a rural household registration and no education—she would only have two options after learning about the situation: settle down in Linjiazui Brigade and continue farming, or settle down in another brigade and continue farming.
Although she was an orphan in her previous life and had suffered a lot along the way, Lin Qingqing considered herself a lazy person who knew nothing about farming and never wanted to live a life of toiling in the fields. But now it was the 1970s, and there were still a large number of unemployed young people in the city who had no choice but to go to the countryside. For her, a rural person without a household registration or education, going to the city was as difficult as climbing to the sky.
Having this experience makes all the difference. With my cooking skills, I could find a job cooking, not just in the county town, but in the commune, or even in the brigade.
Lin Qingqing followed He Xiaoli into the canteen. Calling it a canteen was a bit of a stretch; it was just a spacious room partitioned off with wooden planks. Inside were stoves and cabinets for cooking, and outside was a table for eating.
"Aunt Wang, this is Qingqing," He Xiaoli said, pointing to Lin Qingqing. Then she added, "This is Aunt Wang, the head chef at our guesthouse. Her cooking is amazing! Manager Xu from the state-run restaurant keeps coming to our guesthouse, saying he wants to poach her to work there!"
Although He Xiaoli was young, she was quick-witted and praised Aunt Wang with a single sentence, making her smile from ear to ear: "Manager Xu, that's just being polite. You're exaggerating too much, kid."
"Even if Manager Xu is being polite, he wouldn't say something so baseless. He must have heard about your excellent cooking skills before saying that," Lin Qingqing said with a smile.
Aunt Wang was all smiles after being coaxed by the two, and she became even more amiable towards Lin Qingqing. However, she wasn't one to go overboard with flattery, and when it came to actually doing the work, she laid out the rules for Lin Qingqing: "I don't have any other requirements. First, you have to be obedient. Do whatever I tell you to do, don't try to fool me. Second, you have to keep the kitchen clean. It definitely won't do if it's a mess. You can learn everything else gradually. You've cooked at home before, haven't you?"
"I have," Lin Qingqing replied immediately.
Aunt Wang pulled two lettuce stalks from a bamboo basket under the countertop and handed them to Lin Qingqing, asking, "Do you know how to peel them?"
"meeting."
Aunt Wang then asked Lin Qingqing to peel the lettuce. While Lin Qingqing was working, Aunt Wang stayed by her side and watched. Only after seeing that Lin Qingqing was indeed skilled with the knife did she go to do her own work. She also instructed, "Don't rush, take your time." Lettuce is not easy to peel, so you have to take it slowly to avoid hurting your hands.
Lin Qingqing responded and diligently continued peeling the skin.
After peeling the lettuce, Lin Qingqing showed it to Aunt Wang and asked, "Aunt Wang, is this okay?"
Aunt Wang was very satisfied to see that the white veins on the two lettuce stalks had been removed, and that the skin that Lin Qingqing had peeled off was very thin. She then asked, "Can you shred them?"
Lin Qingqing nodded again and said she would, so Aunt Wang asked her to cut the ingredients into strips.
After chopping the lettuce and pinching the garlic scapes, the more work Lin Qingqing did, the more Aunt Wang thought she was good; she was not only efficient but also quick. Normally, it would take her an hour to cook a meal by herself, but today it only took her half an hour.
When we had dinner, the staff from the guesthouse came over and asked, "Why are we eating so early today? Don't we usually eat until dark?"
"Isn't it good to eat early?" Aunt Wang asked.
"It's nice, but I'm not used to it," said Old Zhang, who was cleaning the guest rooms.
Aunt Wang spat and said that he was being hypocritical after getting the benefit. Then she pulled Lin Qingqing out and said, "I was able to cook so quickly today thanks to Qingqing. The little girl is so efficient. As soon as I asked for something, she handed it to me. I didn't have to worry about anything. I just had to cook, so of course I was fast."
Everyone had heard He Xiaoli mention Lin Qingqing that afternoon, and she had just mentioned that Lin Qingqing was going to work in the kitchen as an assistant, so they weren't surprised. Some even joked, "Aunt Wang has taken on a good apprentice!"
"Envious?" Aunt Wang said smugly. "You can't be envious!"
Everyone else laughed and followed along with Aunt Wang's words.
...
And so, Lin Qingqing's job as a kitchen helper in the cafeteria was settled. However, there wasn't much to do in the cafeteria; after all, the guesthouse had few staff, and preparing meals for just a few people was easy enough for Aunt Wang to handle by herself. So, when she had free time, Lin Qingqing would also help watch the front desk.
The next day, Ms. Sun, a staff member from the Women's Federation, came to visit Lin Qingqing. She was quite surprised to see how well Lin Qingqing got along with the staff at the guesthouse. Before she came, Director Chen had worried that Lin Qingqing was too honest and might be mistreated, and had specifically told her to be careful. Now she realized that her worries were unfounded.
However, Lin Qingqing helping with the work prompted her to ask one more question. But when she found out that Lin Qingqing was doing it willingly and couldn't stay idle, she stopped complaining.
Once inside Lin Qingqing's room, Sun Gan scouted the surroundings beforehand, knowing how to explain things to his superiors when he returned. He then gave Lin Qingqing everything he had brought. She had brought quite a few things, but they weren't particularly valuable, including old clothes and personal items.
"Don't be fooled by the fact that these are all old clothes; they were all specially selected and have no patches," said Secretary Sun. He explained that he was sending these clothes mainly because he was worried that Lin Qingqing might not have taken enough clothes and supplies when she left the Lin family in such a hurry.
Lin Qingqing wasn't the kind of person who didn't appreciate kindness. She knew that everyone was struggling financially at the time, and even old clothes were probably bought with great difficulty. Of course, she wouldn't complain about the clothes being old. However, she didn't offer to accept them, hesitatingly asking if the clothes would be enough for others if she did.
"Don't worry, these clothes were all donated voluntarily by others."
As Officer Sun spoke, he preached to Lin Qingqing, saying that there are still more good people in the world, and that the organization knows she is facing difficulties, but she must believe that as long as she works hard, things will get better and better, and the organization will not abandon anyone.
This time, Officer Sun came not only to show the Women's Federation's care for Lin Qingqing, to offer her warmth and reason, and to boost her confidence in life, but also to bring her good news: "Although the investigation is not yet over, the commune primary school, after a meeting and discussion, has decided to suspend Comrade Lin Ying from her duties."
"Really?" Lin Qingqing asked, suppressing her joy.
Officer Sun, however, thought that her restraint was due to discomfort, patted her on the shoulder and said, "Being suspended is because Comrade Lin Ying's thinking was incorrect and she did something wrong. You must not feel guilty about it."
Lin Qingqing smiled faintly and said, "Don't worry, Officer Sun, I won't be sad for them anymore."
Officer Sun thought he would have to persuade her again, but he didn't expect Lin Qingqing to have come to her senses so quickly. He said happily, "That's right. You have to remember that no matter what, you are free, and no one can force you to do something you don't want to do."
"Uh-huh."
After seeing Officer Sun off, Lin Qingqing returned to the guesthouse. Back at the front desk, He Xiaoli asked, "What did the Women's Federation officer want with you?"
"I just came to check in and brought some things." Lin Qingqing said as she walked behind the counter and saw He Xiaoli writing down today's check-in information. She looked up slightly and gazed outside.
Seeing her actions, He Xiaoli suddenly asked, "Do you know her?" As soon as she asked, He Xiaoli regretted it, because she had heard Lin Qingqing say that she had never been to school.
“I know some of them,” Lin Qingqing said conservatively. Seeing He Xiaoli’s surprised expression, she explained, “When I was little, I shared a room with my third sister and I looked through her textbooks.”
This is true. The original owner of this body also longed to study, so when she lived with Lin Ying, she flipped through her textbooks. But one time Lin Ying discovered this and insisted that she was trying to steal something. Although Lin Youfu eventually believed the original owner, she gave up on learning to read after that incident and never dared to touch Lin Ying's textbooks again.
He Xiaoli knew that her third sister wanted Lin Qingqing to have her child, and fearing that she would be upset, she pointed to what she had just finished writing and said, "Can you read this aloud?"
"Is that okay?" Lin Qingqing asked in surprise.
"Why not?" He Xiaoli said nonchalantly; she was also quite curious to know how many characters Lin Qingqing knew.
Lin Qingqing picked up He Xiaoli's notebook, pursed her lips, and read aloud, word by word, "Wang Houxiang, Baisha County..."
Lin Qingqing didn't read very fast, and she deliberately skipped some difficult words, but even so, He Xiaoli was very surprised. After she finished reading, she asked, "You really haven't studied?"
"No," Lin Qingqing said.
He Xiaoli felt extremely sorry for Lin Qingqing. She thought that if Lin Qingqing could recognize so many characters without having gone to school, how amazing she would be! Although the college entrance examination had been suspended for several years and high school admission required a recommendation, even if she couldn't enter the city after junior high school, she could still be a scorekeeper in the brigade.
Thinking of this, He Xiaoli asked, "Do you want to learn to read?"
"Of course I want to," Lin Qingqing said without hesitation. She didn't want to remain illiterate forever, but the original owner's past forced her to hide her talents. However, Lin Qingqing didn't intend to hide her talents forever. Not to mention that she wanted to take the college entrance examination, even in the countryside, the jobs that literate and illiterate people could do were different.
“I have my elementary school textbooks at home. If you want to learn, I’ll bring you my first-grade textbooks tomorrow. You can look at them first, and then I’ll get you second-grade ones,” He Xiaoli said, pausing before adding, “You can also ask me if you don’t understand anything.”
After hearing her words, Lin Qingqing bowed to her and said, "Thank you."
He Xiaoli was startled by her reaction and quickly said, "Don't be like that. I was just helping you out. It's nothing! Oh, I feel bad for you doing this."
"Then I still have to thank you," Lin Qingqing said with a smile.
When Lin Qingqing first transmigrated to this world, she felt incredibly unlucky to have encountered such a terrible family, and her future seemed bleak. Looking back now, she realizes she was actually very lucky, because besides the awful Lin family, she also met many kind people, such as Secretary Zhou, He Xiaoli, Aunt Wang…
And Xie Wei.
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